Navigating
new job stress
With millions moving jobs since the pandemic began, psychologists and career coaches share advice for reducing the stresses that often come with starting a new position.
A few weeks after COVID-19 sent her from her cubicle to her kitchen table, Kate Connelly of Scituate, Mass., was furloughed from her job as a corporate copywriter.
When the furlough turned into a layoff, she launched a search for a job similar to the one she’d lost. But she soon realized she hadn’t been happy for years. That’s when she saw an opportunity to re-evaluate.
Connelly had long been interested in real estate sales, so she focused on securing her license and did so in short order. Within weeks she’d sold her first house and was on her way to a new career.
She credits the pandemic with opening her mind.
“I realized that you don’t have to do the same thing you’ve always done,” she says. “I would have stayed at my previous job, unhappily, until it was time to retire. But I was forced to adjust, and now I love the change.”
She’s not alone. According to a Washington Post-Schar School poll conducted in July, one in three U.S. workers have considered or executed a career shift since the pandemic began. Many say COVID has caused them to rethink their jobs and the role that work plays in their lives.
But transitioning to a new job or career is often stressful in its own right. And making the change amidst a pandemic can add to that stress.
Psychologists and career coaches who specialize in workplace mental-health issues say those feelings are normal. It’s wise to recognize them, then put strategies in place to smooth your transition to new work.
Recognizing and accepting the anxious feelings that surround your job switch is your first step toward managing it.
“Anxiety affects us all a little differently,” says Dr. David Alperovitz, PsyD, staff psychologist at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass. “Don’t embed yourself in it, but don’t push it away.”
Pushing those feelings away usually causes them to return and grow more overwhelming, says Alperovitz.
“Allow your anxiety to breathe, acknowledge it,” he says. “Then, connect with the present moment. Tell yourself to get out of your head and into your new environment.”
Acknowledge your anxiety
Use mindfulness to reduce anxiety
Starting a new job can put people into what feels like an unwelcome spotlight, says Barbara Van Zoeren, an Arlington, Mass.-based therapist who specializes in mindfulness techniques. “It’s like when you walk into a party and feel like everyone is looking at you.”
“Our brains are wired to go negative,” she says. “When that happens, remember they chose you for this job; they already know you can do it. Steady yourself so that your thoughts and worries aren’t running the show.”
Van Zoeren recommends box breathing, used by Navy SEALS to
“I can learn to do this.”
Self-talk is the constant stream of words in your head that narrates the way your day goes. When you shift your self-talk from negative to positive, you’ll reduce anxiety and perfectionist thinking. Seeing the glass as half-full instead of half-empty is probably our best-known example of positive self-talk. Here are some others:
Instead of “I have no idea how to do this”
“I will do my best and will communicate to my team if I need more time.”
Instead of “this deadline is impossible”
“I got three things done today and will aim for more tomorrow.”
Instead of “I only crossed three items off my to-do list today”
“I tried and will do better next time.”
Instead of “I did a terrible job on this project”
“I’m still new and it takes a while to settle in.”
Instead of “I feel left out of my colleagues’ conversations”
Anti-stress tool kit
Mindfulness and positive psychology are powerful and proven ways to reduce anxiety. Experts in both suggest grounding yourself in the present, questioning negative assumptions, and normalizing your feelings of anxiety. That way, you’ll avoid a spiral to panic and worst-case scenarios.
Some new employees get little or no direction, which leads to stress.
“It’s wonderful when everyone opens their arms wide and lets you in,” says Lisa Jacobson, a Tampa, Fla.-based career coach with an advanced degree in positive psychology. “But it’s okay if that doesn’t happen.”
She suggests that new employees embark on a “listening tour” by identifying their stakeholders and getting to know them. Ask how they landed at their current job or what they think of the corporate climate.
“Think of yourself as a reporter; you’re filling your toolbox with information,” she says. “People love to talk and they love when people want to hear what they have to say.”
As the new kid in town, it’s important to be flexible and adaptable to your new environment. Be curious. Keep an open mind. And offer to help.
“Ask your new co-workers, ‘what can I do to help you in these early days while I’m learning the ropes?’” she says. “That will help build the trust and rapport that will go a long way.”
Sarah Mann, an executive coach who specializes in workplace issues that affect women, says people should expect their new-job transitions to take between 30 and 90 days. During that time, they should take advantage of the “benefits of being new,” she advises.
“You’re not constrained by existing organizational challenges, by the pain points, because you don’t know what they are,” she says. “You’re new on the job, so you have a great opportunity to share a different perspective.”
The listening tour
Give it time
Working remotely, together
Some companies handle onboarding beautifully, but others not so much. If your new organization’s process is lacking, use those early weeks to investigate and learn what’s happening around you.
“One of the ways to best build business acumen is talking to people in different functions,” Mann says. “Proactively connect with people in other departments. You might be working on the manufacturing floor, but you’ll still need to understand how what you’re doing will impact sales, operations, and customer service.”
COVID-19 adds a layer of complication to new-job stress. Meeting colleagues on a screen instead of face-to-face may seem extra daunting.
Jacobson advises clients who are starting new jobs from home to follow the same strategies they would from the office.
Even if your new workplace welcomes baseball caps and yoga pants, make an effort to dress for business.
“Brush your hair, put on lipstick, wear a button-down shirt,” Jacobson suggests.
Just as critical is ensuring your technology works right before
you sign on. “Practice before you Zoom,” she says. “Make sure your face is lit, that people can see you, and make eye contact.”
Most of all, show up on time.
“It is just not cool to be late, not even five minutes, especially if you’re new,” she says. “That’s always true, whether you’re in person or remote.”
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan offer a range of tools and resources to help reduce stress and anxiety. For example, try one of many free virtual Living Well at Home classes, which include guided mindfulness sessions.
Job stress by the numbers
of workers planning to leave their jobs say they are seeking better compensation and benefits, and would prefer a job that allows for professional growth as well as better work/life balance.
50%
are rethinking the type of job they want.
48%
say the pandemic has given them more control in deciding the direction of their career.
50%
of U.S. and Canadian workers reported feeling stress on a daily basis (up by eight percentage points from the year prior and compared with 43% of people who feel that way globally).
57%
When asked what they would value most from their employers going forward, working caregivers cited increased work flexibility (42%), more paid time off (38%) and a greater commitment to employee health and well-being (37%).
U.S. and Canadian workers ranked highest for daily stress levels of all groups surveyed.
(Meanwhile, the daily stress levels for women in Western Europe went down in the last year, which researchers attribute to social safety nets for parents and workers to prevent unemployment).
Stress spikes were especially acute for women in the last year: 62% of working women in the U.S. and Canada reported daily feelings of stress compared with 52% of men.
Sources
https://news.prudential.com/shifting-worker-expectations-guide-coming-talent-migration.htm
https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx
Breathing exercises are an easy way to reduce anxiety. Follow with the image to practice Box Breathing, a technique used by Navy SEALS.
Listen to this audio for guided sensory grounding, narrated by Tara Healey, who leads Mind the Moment, a Point32Health companies initiative bringing mindfulness to workplaces.
relieve on-the-job stress, for “slowing down spinning thoughts.”
Box breathing, also known as four-square breathing, involves breathing in an even pattern. First, exhale to a count of four. Hold your lungs empty for four seconds. Inhale at the same pace, and hold air in your lungs for a count of four before exhaling and beginning the pattern anew.
Reserving a few minutes each morning for meditation and practicing mindfulness strategies that keep you in the moment are also highly effective for curbing stress and staying positive.
Kathleen McKenna
Mindfulness and meditation are powerful tools in relieving anxiety. In this episode of Turning Points: Navigating Mental Health, hear from a young woman who discovered that yoga, therapy, and finding community helped her heal from a trauma. Then, get the lowdown from meditation expert Tara Healey and neuroscientist Jud Brewer on how and why mindfulness can help everyone’s mental health.
Some new employees get little or no direction, which leads to stress.
“It’s wonderful when everyone opens their arms wide and lets you in,” says Lisa Jacobson, a Tampa, Fla.-based career coach with an advanced degree in positive psychology. “But it’s okay if that doesn’t happen.”
She suggests that new employees embark on a “listening tour” by identifying their stakeholders and getting to know them. Ask how they landed at their current job or what they think of the corporate climate.
“Think of yourself as a reporter; you’re filling your toolbox with information,” she says. “People love to talk and they love when people want to hear what they have to say.”
As the new kid in town, it’s important to be flexible and adaptable to your new environment. Be curious. Keep an open mind. And offer to help.
“Ask your new co-workers, ‘what can I do to help you in these early days while I’m learning the ropes?’” she says. “That will help build the trust and rapport that will go a long way.”
The listening
tour